Chic and cool: What's the factor?
A request from an Anonymous commenter: "I would still like to explore the question....what is the chic, cool factor for those of us of a certain age?" She adds, "I know all the basics and practice them" and also says "This much I know is true...shades *sunglasses* are always cool."
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| Queen of Rock |
Yesterday afternoon, I took a break to catch Oprah's "Rock Goddesses" show. Joan Jett: deeply cool, but not chic, unless you pronounce that "chick".
Salt N' Pepa: hootchie hot rather than cool, but I couldn't take my eyes off them. Pat Benetar looked like a high school principal, though, and Stevie Nicks eludes any category other than "the Stevie Nicks look".
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| Queen of England |
You can be chic in one world, but other people think you're not: HRH Queen Elizabeth, for example. They should try to be this chic at 85.
Some women possess the intersection of both qualities: Patti Smith, Jane Birkin, Lauren Hutton.
So, back to Anon's question: What is the chic, cool factor for those of us of a certain age?
Besides shades.
Comments
In the end, it really is a certain je ne sais quoi, but good taste must be there. That much je sais!
For me, both are rooted in simplicity and a certain degree of sophistication. "Cool" requires some element of edginess, maybe even un petit peu masculin. I can picture a venn diagram with the intersecting area of Chic and Cool as what I'm striving for. But both also require a harmony between the person and the outfit; as Genuine Lustre described her Aunt Lucy.
I have, btw, almost the exact top as the Queen plus I own a flat knit cardigan in the same shade blue. For me, would not have thought to wear them together. I am striving to leave off the panicky thoughts of what on earth I will wear when I am, God willing, in my 80's. :) I like exhuberance but shudder at the pix in the Advanced Style blog.
LuxeBytes: I believe Anonymous is searching for the "quoi"! What is "good taste" depends on who's observing it- as Ines' book shows.
I too see them as Venn circles but was too rushed to try to draw that!
Vildy: Flapping, Lauren Hutton? Cool does not look like it's trying hard, so is not the precise look you see in "high chic",but it's not sloppy either.
In my 80s think I will find some suits, I love suits on elder women, both skirted and pants. Avoids that mall-walker look.
MJ: I don't think the women in the video are cool at all. Creative, lively, eccentric... but not one bit cool.
Cool implies effortless (the look, there may be effort behind it) and those women show a lot of effort.
Though I agree with you, cool is easier for me, as I "get" simplicity. The modishness required to be chic *at the level of Ines' Paris copines* is daunting.
I always thought of chic as being something very controlled and contained, whereas cool may be simple (or may not be) but also has a hint of something else, a passion or an edginess or something.
I'm not very coherent here, this is a language with which I tend to struggle.
As for the chic and the cool: I find they are both much more than the sum of our clothes and accessories. Much much more.
The chic and the cool are inevitably a reflection of our personalities. I find that a well educated smart witty woman can be both cool and chic even on a bad hair day.
Chic can be a more universal and timeless...
I'd like a more information...what are the basics for Chic...how does a non chic gal embrace chic and is it an attitude or is it the clothes?
Genuine Lustre's aunt sounds like she could teach me a thing or two!
I hope you feel better soon...
Hostess
XO
I think chic in an older woman is definitely a combination of personality and her style. I agree with Deja Pseu that simple is most often chic. But simple is not the entire answer. It's more than that--and I don't think we can come up with a formula, because it's not a formula.
Michelle Obama, Anne Hathaway, and Princess Leticia of Spain are chic.
Tilda Swinton, Juliette Binoche, and Anika Noni Rose are cool.
See what I mean?
Anonymous @10:20: I think the Anonymous who asked the question was referring to personal style (unless you are that person. Anonymnity creates these problems so I appreciate it when anonymous posters sign even a nickname.) If one is open and curious it likely results in not defaulting to a boring uniform, but then, many people I've worked with over the years have had cool brains and boring clothes. And occasionally the opposite.
Jane W. Chic does not always look edgy to me (see HRH) but it certainly can!
coffeeaddict: Now you will never look at one quite the same way.
In my city, you can buy chic, and you'll look chic if you carry the clothes well, regardless of personality.
And I know a woman who is always extremely cool-looking. She also has deep, painful body issues. So the link between the inner and outer may be more tenuous than we at first think.
Marguerite: It's not either/or but as I read comments I am thinking it's hard to go out and shop "cool"- it's more attitude than anything else.
Rubi: I think Juliette Binoche is both! Might try to grab a few candid shots in Montreal to pursue the topic further.
hostess: I know a number of nice looking but not chic women who have availed themselves of image consultants and stylists, some with better results than others. Some carry off their new look with aplomb, others hunch and look like they can't wait to get home and change. (Political candidates or wives of candidates often get this "fluffing".)
You see it also on well-done TV makeovers: an attractive woman suddenly looks ravishing, but still herself. That always looks chic, despite age or body type.
And then there's the looooooong answer:).
depends a lot on displaying what is current in fashion. This makes some sense to me. Those women who are singled out as chic though always wearing their timeless staples, well, they are being recognized.
Cool seems to involve a bit of
contrariness. What they seem to have in common is that I imagine both the chic and the cool as being looked at but not being the ones observing everyone else.
By "flapping" what I mean is that I think of those women as wearing more fabric than they "need."
I don't think of Lauren Hutton as cool anymore. Everything she became famous for is what everybody else has adopted by now.
Where is there left for her to go? :) Whereas Jane Birkin is going to put stickers on her bag and still give people a little thrill.
Birkin's photos show a consistent style and I don't see much loose fabric on her long frame. Most recently photographed at Paris Fashion Week in a fitted black pantsuit.
The Jane Birkins and Patti Smiths and Lauren Huttons are all cool, but they're all quite noticably very thin. I think this helps with the masculine quality, but it's not a requirement for cool. Like Janeane Garofalo. Not chic, but definitely cool.
Cool people don't fall for trends.
Cool seems to carry a subtext of pared down-ness, so being average to thin helps the visual expression, and is not essential.
I don't know how to achieve these states, really. Maybe it's like musical talent: a few are born with perfect pitch, the rest of us find it occasionally through hard work, or stumble on it by accident.
C.
Probably the same with women who have been chic for decades; Audrey Hepburn did not alter her look much.
So many people loved the Queen Mother's style too!
A funny story about what's cool: I saw a man in California in the early '80s wearing shorts with those tight cycling shorts underneath. (The underneath shorts hung down lower than the shorts on top). I thought he was a homeless person who piled everything on in order to keep his possessions secure. Within 2 years all the wannabe cool young bucks in my city were rocking that look. I simply did not have the eyes and frame of reference to see it as they did, as cool.
The other person was born with dwarfism. She was about 30 and worked in our local library. She wore her long mane of curls dyed the brightest possible ginger colour, and at all times offset her pale skin with pillarbox red lipstick and nailpolish. And she ruled the library checkout with unblinking direct eye contact that dared you to feel sorry for her. The borrowers adored her despite being very much in awe of her. She died unexpectedly, but is still missed.
What these two had in common was a refusal to be defined by others' expectations. In their very quiet ways, they demanded absolute respect. Both were proud; and the librarian believed in her own beauty, so that we all believed in it too.
Perhaps what we admire and call "cool" is that quality of courage: courage to live one's life -including one's style of dress - resolutely, as one has defined it for oneself, calmly, without self-promotion or self-justification. We can sense that courage in someone's bearing, though we may put no word to it, but nevertheless we offer it our respect - and the badge of "cool".
The *cool person* may have any physical attribute or style. The inner qualities shine forth, and to signify our our respect and admiration, we apply the label "cool".
Some people are *cool personages* and also *look cool*, Barack Obama is often cited. Other people are deeply *cool personages* but don't look it (your co-worker). Some people who *look cool* have no other qualities other than superficial attractiveness.
The label "cool" tells a great deal about what the labeler admires. We sometimes project qualities on the object of the label. Should they disappoint us, we decide, not cool anymore.
A subset apply the label "cool" to individuals to show admiration for qualities that disturb me. Charlie Sheen, for example.
I look beyond the label to investigate what qualities the person displays to earn the lofty praise of "cool". I'd be in agreement with your examples.
I'm the original Anon wanting to look at the cool factor. Thank you all for your POV. It's been very interesting. Always it comes back to something we respect. The courage to stand out a little? At 59 I'm not aspiring to the trendy, yet I still don't want to say that I'm too old to try new things whether it's fashion,culture, travel,cusine. Maybe "cool" sounds a bit juvenile? How about "current", "in the know". Being fresh and updated and,cool, if you will, should make me feel more engaged and less marginalized and invisible as many women our age report feeling. Thoughtful answers and, Duchesse, your black leather tee shirt is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time!!
Strict Anon
Black leather tee proved to be one of my all time best purchases, glad you like it.
I'll be blogging soon on the biggest detriment to feeling cool at 50+, poverty among women.
1. Geriatric depression
2. Lack of money or fear of running out (rational or not)
3. Frustration with fit- ever try to find clothes cut to flatter aged bodies?
4. Decreased mobility
5. No time or energy, especially if caring for infirm partner
So when we see women who look that way, it's not always that they simply don't care.
It gets harder as you go. As my stylish 75 year old aunt said, "I am desperate for clothes."